I've been testing TIG's new Manifold beta, which is extremely useful and came across this App for PC's only and I can't check if the plug will work on a Mac without a PC to download the App, so if someone has, or can have a look that would be grand

Virtualwind's advanced 3D wind flow simulation and visualization. Within SketchUp, Virtualwind's Validation Tools identify and visually highlight non-watertight geometries and problematic textures in the model. Non-watertight geometries are typically surfaces on building models that do not have contiguous adjoining edges (i.e., models that do not have a "wetted surface", a "water-tight" exterior). Problematic textures are usually faces with back-only textures or back texture different from front. The Virtualwind toolbar also provides Correction Tools to correct these issues. For non-watertight geometries, there are toolbar icons to remove zero-faced edges and to sew edges together, thereby helping to create a water-tight model. There are also toolbar icons to correct problematic textures. These model corrections are important to provide more accurate wind flow simulations.

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learn from the mistakes of others, you may not live long enough to make them all yourself...

Virtualwind is officially supported on Microsoft Windows XP and Window XP-64. Virtualwind is currently compiled as a 32-bit application only, so even though it does run on Microsoft Windows XP-64, it does not take advantage of the added memory addressability.

John, this, initially, looks like a great load of fun, but one thing I was told while doing my engineering degree was "don't ever trust FEA". "Always do the maths to prove the computer right (or wrong)"! I recommend this book, instead, if you can't get the plugin to work!

Yeah, right! Here we go again.... This (typical and lazy- I may add) kind of statement, completely disregards the current licencing problem with SketchUp, ie, SketchUp has no way of supporting licences on both Mac and Windows at the same time, from the same single licence (a pity, Google). So if you're going to buy this kind of software, you may as well forget Mac altogether, and just buy a PC (unless of course, you are loaded. )

well I got a response to my email re the plugin and heres the official line.

as I actually have an allergy to PC's can someone PM me the ruby, as it not covered by the license and I'll see if it runs on a Mac.

Hi John:

As for your SketchUp Plug-In questions:

1. While Virtualwind in general is officially supported only on Windows XP,we've had reports of success on a number of different platforms, includingMacs running Microsoft operating systems. I can't directly speak to theSketchUp Plug-In (since it hasn't yet been internally tested on a Mac), butI believe it should work -- SketchUp plug-ins are created using aplatform-independent scripting language, so it shouldn't matter whatplatform you're running SketchUp on. (As a proviso though, it's theoretically possible that the SketchUpplug-in interface itself is different on a Mac than on a PC. If that's thecase, then there might indeed be some incompatibilities.) Also, if you are going to install the SketchUp Plug-In, be sure that youhave SketchUp already installed, because the Plug-In needs to know where tofind SketchUp to properly install.

2. The Plug-In is only downloadable as a part of the Virtualwind softwaredownload.

3. The Plug-In is not purchasable as a separate package. However, althoughthe main Virtualwind application is protected by a 30-day trial license,there are no licensing restrictions on the Plug-In. Therefore, if you go tothe Virtualwind web site and download the Free Trial, you will also get theunrestricted SketchUp Plug-In.

4. Performance is highly dependent on the nature of the geometry. For mostmodels in the Google 3D Warehouse, the Plug-In operations complete in areasonable amount of time (usually within a couple of seconds, thoughsometimes they may take a minute or two). In extreme cases, the Plug-In can take a considerable amount of time: ona model with 100,000 Faces and a thousand Group/Components, some operationsmay take about an hour to complete. However, it's worth noting that nativeSketchUp operations on such models take a similarly long amount of time(Exploding all Groups -- which is a core SketchUp functionality -- can takeover an hour in such cases). Usually, such extreme models are originally created by a CAD packageoutside of SketchUp, and then were exported to SKP format. If the originalmodel is available, I would instead recommend trying to bypass SketchUpaltogether: I would try to use the original source CAD package to generatean STL file (many CAD packages can do this), and then import the STLdirectly into Virtualwind.

If you have any further questions or would like any clarifications, pleasedon't hesitate to write back.

I dont see any counter...just a '0' at the bottom left of my screen and the hourglass. Still unresponsive...could it be my laptop can't handle it? (this is my first time using Manifold)

Google Wave is "email on steroids" - invite only right now. Some of us from the forum tried it a couple months ago and it crashed when too many users were added. PM me your email address if you wanna give it a whirl.

Anyone has the full Virtualwind trial? They went down, no more downloads from their site (www.virtualwind.com)if anyone could share this app. it would be very appreciated.I think the last update was 2.1, but lesser version is also welcome.Please help me out, if you can.

We at Virtualwind are sorry to announce that we will be closing our doors on July 30, 2010. Effective July 26th, we ceased to sell, distribute, or support Virtualwind. The Virtualwind website will remain active for an indeterminate period of time to provide access to the on-line training and support material.

We would like to talke this opportunity to sincerely thank all of our customers and trial version users for their support and encouragement over this last year, and wish them all the very best. For further guidance on solutions to wind engineering challenges, please consult with our parent company, RWDI Inc.

d12dozr wrote:This folder has one .rb and a Virtualwind folder from my Plugins folder. I think I got it all, but lemme know if it doesnt work.

Trying hanger skp with Manifold 1.4 on PC...Sketchup has been unresponsive for the last 15 mins.

On a side note, this collaboration would be a good use for Google Wave...whaddya think?

I am able to install the plugin in sketchup 7 (so glad i kept an install file copy), but when i try clicking on RUN/launch, there is some message stating that I need an .exe file. Do you have this file? Thanks!!